Press Releases

f_001
Advances Through Stem Cell Research

How do we limit the devastating effects of the more than 1,000 neurological and neurodegenerative diseases that affect billions of people worldwide? Advances in stem cell research are bringing us closer to understanding, finding treatments for, and stopping the progression of, debilitating degenerative conditions including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Machado-Joseph, and Huntington’s diseases.

Major research projects around the globe such as the BRAIN Initiative seek to improve understanding of the brain through the development of new technologies. Researchers demonstrate how implementing new methods and tools — such as improved techniques for imaging the connections between and communication among brain cells as well as nanoparticle therapies — can advance the field and lead to novel discoveries.

f_003
Exploring Toxic Tau’s Role in Neurodegeneration

Tau, a common brain protein, has long been associated with the progression of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. New findings explore how the toxic form of tau spreads in the brain and how reversing the changes induced by toxic tau may improve cognition.

f_004
From One Sense to Another: Crossing Sensory Modalities

Our senses form our perception of the world around us, but new research may change our understanding of how the brain interprets those sensory signals. Recent findings demonstrate how our senses of touch, vision, and hearing may intersect and how they may be involved in communicating emotional information.

f_005
Legal Drugs of Abuse: The Science Behind Addiction

Some of the most commonly abused drugs are the legal ones: alcohol, nicotine, and, in some places, marijuana. Understanding the neurobiological components involved in addiction to these drugs can help pave the way for new treatments. New studies suggest that scent conditioning during sleep may help reduce smoking and that stimulating a certain part of the brain may inhibit alcohol seeking.

f_007
Detecting, Understanding, and Preventing Neuroinflammation

Inflammation in the central nervous system occurs when our brains are exposed to injury, disease, poor diet, and infection. Examining neuroinflammation may help explain why some people are predisposed to psychiatric diseases, obesity, and chronic fatigue, and highlight ways to monitor treatment and progression of neurodegenerative diseases.

f_008
The Developing Brain

How do evolutionary and experiential factors affect brain development? Researchers explore how the human brain’s extended developmental schedule may account for our remarkable cognitive abilities, as well as how stress on expectant mothers and traumatic experiences during early life may have lasting effects on mental health.

f_009
The Importance of Sleep

Sleep plays a vital part in brain health, with far-reaching effects on memory and learning. Recent findings examine sleep’s role in memory formation and storage — including how disruption of sleep can be detrimental to these functions — as well as a possible therapy for sleep disturbances after a traumatic brain injury.

f_010
Unhealthy Diet, Unhealthy Mind

To what extent does an unhealthy diet lead to an unhealthy mind? Research sheds new light on how your sweet tooth may be blamed on your mother’s diet and how your diet may affect your ability to respond to stress. Scientists also explore how obesity may place people at an increased risk for developing memory problems and how a calorie-restricted diet protects the brain.

Neuroscience 2014 (44th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience)Exit